Becoming an accountant / bookkeeper

pollyanna24

I've always been interested in this type of job role, but kind of fell into the legal secretarial role which is great, but I work for a sole practitioner and have done for 11 years. He is coming up to 60 and although I don't expect him to retire at 65, I want to be prepared.

Are there courses I can take without being employed by a company to prepare me if I want to do this when potentially I am made redundant by my present employer?

I took the first stage of bookkeeping about 7 years ago, but it was just for the fun of it (yeah, I know), but then I got pregnant with my eldest, so never completed the second year.

mum2one

If you look at your local college they do book keeping up to accounts all part time study xx

Carl31

There is a vast difference between an accountant and a book keeper, it's a bit like saying you want to be a doctor or a care assistant

Which do you want to be?

pollyanna24

Carl31 wrote: »

There is a vast difference between an accountant and a book keeper, it's a bit like saying you want to be a doctor or a care assistant

Which do you want to be?

Not entirely sure. More likely a bookkeeper as I'm probably too old to start completely again as an accountant (34) and can't afford to study full time as I'm a single mum and need my job to pay my mortgage.

somethingcorporate

When I was doing my accountancy training there were loads of people way older than 34 just starting out. It takes about 3 years assuming you have a degree with part-time (evening/weekends study).

You've still got 30+ years of your career left so never too late to give something new a try.

SeduLOUs

The gentle route in would be to do an AAT qualification which isn't overly expensive, and can be done either by evening classes at a college or purely via distance learning.

It will give you exemptions if you go on to do either ACCA or CIMA if you decide to go for chartered accountancy in the long run.

Buy some second hand AAT books off ebay and see what you think. A financial accounting module will give you a good look behind the scenes without being overly complicated and should give you a proper idea as to whether it is something that genuinely interests you.

I am unqualified but have been doing management accounts now for about 10 years (age 31). I did some relevant modules of CIMA but was never interested enough to pursue it fully. I'm now starting to find the monthly routine quite dull and have started to do a Maths degree with the OU because I know I like working with numbers but feel like I'd prefer a more analytical role with less focus on money - I have over 30 years of work left in me and it's never too late to change!

Kynthia

You definitely aren't too old to become an accountant. However being a single parent probably means you won't be able to put the time in to qualify quickly. I would suggest thinking long term and start by doing the AAT qualification. You can do this at local colleges, online courses, distance learning or self study and it depends on money, motivation and how you like to learn. Once you start you can try to find a bookkeeper or finance entry level job. This will give you good experience and in future could lead to a job and employer that will sponsor you to study ACCA or CIMA.

You could jump straight into studying ACCA or CIMA but they require a lot of studying, are much more expensive courses and are difficult to pass if you don't work in the industry. Also you don't want to have the qualification with no experience as it's very difficult to get a job as those that require you to be a qualified accountant want lots of experience, and you'll be over qualified for entry level jobs.

There's been other threads about becoming an accountant or how to get experience so perhaps try searching for them to see if they are helpful.

Amara

Hello.
I've notice this thread and I'd like to ask for advice.
I'm not British origin and I've done degree in Economics 10 years ago . Because of my studies I've received five exemptions of ACCA exams. It was very hard for me to pursuit accountancy career then, so I started my own business. It was five years ago. I've done accounting side of the business myself , but it wasn't anything big or complicated. Would it be possible for me to find account assistant job , so I could continue ACCA? Or I would have to apply for entry level jobs? How likely is for me to get this kind of job at all?
Thanks all.

Carl31

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Not entirely sure. More likely a bookkeeper as I'm probably too old to start completely again as an accountant (34) and can't afford to study full time as I'm a single mum and need my job to pay my mortgage.

I'm not a single parent, but I did study ACCA from home whilst having a fairly senior accounting position and a family at home

Admittedly, I was supported financially by employers, but I studied it all from home out of text books from the main training places and using the Internet. It's hard graft, but most certainly worth while as a career option. At 34 you are far from too old to start. I saw people upwards of 50 in the exam halls

Even being part qualified or studying for the professional level exams opens a lot of doors employment wise

Carl31

Amara wrote: »

Hello.
I've notice this thread and I'd like to ask for advice.
I'm not British origin and I've done degree in Economics 10 years ago . Because of my studies I've received five exemptions of ACCA exams. It was very hard for me to pursuit accountancy career then, so I started my own business. It was five years ago. I've done accounting side of the business myself , but it wasn't anything big or complicated. Would it be possible for me to find account assistant job , so I could continue ACCA? Or I would have to apply for entry level jobs? How likely is for me to get this kind of job at all?
Thanks all.

I would think you could get an assistant accountant type job fairly easily. If you did your own business accounts you will have some experience of the financial statements, making accounting entries, and how day books / sub ledgers operate. A lot of larger employers offer study support, you can then use that to gain experience and study

asajj

Amara wrote: »

Hello.
I've notice this thread and I'd like to ask for advice.
I'm not British origin and I've done degree in Economics 10 years ago . Because of my studies I've received five exemptions of ACCA exams. It was very hard for me to pursuit accountancy career then, so I started my own business. It was five years ago. I've done accounting side of the business myself , but it wasn't anything big or complicated. Would it be possible for me to find account assistant job , so I could continue ACCA? Or I would have to apply for entry level jobs? How likely is for me to get this kind of job at all?
Thanks all.

Please create your own thread. Overall, everything is possible but your question is really broad to answer anyway.